The New Bumper Crop of Los Angeles Farmers Markets
The mushrooming of Farmers Markets taking us back to local roots is nothing if not reassuring in this time of economic and social uncertainty. The startling thing is that farmers markets started setting a precedent and preference for local and seasonal produce during the height of the high tech revolution when transportation and communication advances were moving us closer and closer to a global economy that makes available almost any type of food any time.
Even supermarkets have felt the need to emulate their outdoor counterparts. Witness upscale supermarket remodels during the last decade with simulated rural produce sections right inside in the front door. And, coming soon to a neighborhood near you is the newest “farm to floor” model, Henry’s Farm Markets combining the best of farm market and grocery store.
The Depression Spurs the First Farmers Market and Electricity Saves It
You can’t leave out the original Farmers Market at Third and
Consider it’s start at the turn of the 20th century when owner A.F. Gilmore bought the land to provide a cozy country cottage refuge for his family and small herd of dairy cows. But when Gilmore drilled the land for water, he hit oil instead. Fast forward through the creation of Gilmore Island awash in a sea of gas pumps, so lucrative it chose not to be incorporated into L.A. until city officials yanked it in for tax revenue in 1976.
Thus, as you may have guessed, Mr. Gilmore engaged neither in farming nor markets. It was a gaggle of desperate farmers who founded The Farmers Market in July of 1934 by pulling their trucks onto the empty corner expanse of Gilmore’s land and selling their fresh wares from truck tailgates. And sell they did. So many customers arrived, a parking lot marked by chalk lines had to be hastily drawn.
But that first winter the days grew short and cold and rainy. It was not so much fun to shop in the dark and the cold and the rain, to say nothing about the reduce produce selection. Few people know that Maggie McGee, wife of a Gilmore manager, saved the day. Her descendants still own and run the McGee’s restaurant stall, keeping the family spirit alive. Bored at home, Maggie visited the site looking for a job and she came up with one: installing electric lights that revived the business from that point on.
It was shortly after that opportunistic entrepreneurs Roger Dahlhielm and Fred Beck, approached Gilmore with their “
Farmers Market would also in the course of time become the home to circus acts, parades, petting zoos and celebrity spotting. (Note: I once sat next to Jaime Lee Curtis during a Ringling Bros. Circus and got to feed an elephant right before their parade).
Meanwhile, the rural market story picks up in what was then
Having gone through several names, you can find this venue listed as Underwood Family Farms in Somis and Moorpark. (www.underwoodfamilyfarms.com)
You can still shop in their old, open sided shed well stocked with seasonal goods, and are still invited to “say hi" to the “kids” in the Farm Animal Center. You can still take part in “pick-your-own produce activities,” and even carve pumpkins at Halloween. New on the agenda is a children’s activity involving clambering over a hay bales stacked to the sky. The kids love it. And school tours currently introducing young students to working farms are a wonderful educational tool that skipped a generation or two.
The management follows the current politically correct rules and regulations, clearly visible on a sign: “We practice a method of farming called sustainable agriculture. We are committed to growing healthy and flavorful product while using the best farming practices and composting with minimal pesticides.”
Although visiting with farmers on their own turf is the most fun and the most informative, Underwood Farms now participates in 12 Certified Farmers’ Markets throughout Southern California , if you are unable or don’t want to use fuel. (see their website for a complete list).
Another tasty way to become acquainted with Underwood Family Farm produce is to dine at a restaurant featuring their produce, including Suzanne’s in Ojai, The Sidecar Restaurant in
Meanwhile back on the range, kitchen range that is, American housewives and working women around the country were following in Maggie McGee’s footsteps – away from the stove and kitchen. Mass marketing and distribution of an entire array of frozen foods and home freezers allowed them to do so, long after the concept was invented by eccentric inventor and explorer, Clarence Birds Eye in 1926. It strongly marked a fork in the industrial evolution road with the trends of TV dinners (and soon fast food) and farmers market shopping as they split off in two directions.
But we in beautiful and bountiful California, a land of fresh produce along with fruits and nuts, an idea kept alive by the media through the hippie commune movement and a few kooky health food restaurants (remember the one that served seaweed salad?) and stores, such as the laid back Erewon and Mrs. Gooch’s.
Then in 1979 a few folks near LAX revived the old-fashioned concept all over again when they opened a farmers market in a
What was most importantly the goal of this
Whether it was inspired or fueled by the Alice Waters food revolution up north in Berkeley the market survived and the concept thrived, growing to 4,000 farmers markets in the United States by 2009, double the number from a decade earlier. Meanwhile the half century old, huge open air markets in
Ed Deeb chronicled the granddaddy of them all, The Detroit Farmer’s Market which celebrates its 118th birthday this year. Renamed Eastern Market after being moved in 1891 to the site of a hay and wood market, Eastern Market also expanded during the Depression era that spawned LA Farmers Market. Farmers annually haul an astonishing 70,000 thousands of tons of fresh produce a year to the market. Open six days a week, on any given Saturday some 45,000 Detroiters, suburbanites, and out-of-staters can be found shopping elbow to elbow at farmer’s stalls. Neighboring
Historic Eastern Market stalls tempt buyers not only with luscious, colorful farm fresh fruits and vegetables, but also with meat products as geese, ducks and rabbits. The longtime Polish community had a hand in the choice of products for half a century, followed by the Greeks and now middle easterners. Another attraction is the Annual Flower Days offering bedding plants, flowers, shrubs and evergreens, now recognized as the world’s largest bedding flower market.
The bustling atmosphere at Eastern Market is more like the LA Flower Mart downtown: arrive before dawn to shop and eat a hasty, hearty breakfast in the area before you return home. That’s unlike the style, say, at the Saturday Santa Monica Farmers Market, where the favorite arrival time is late morning and customers linger to socialize with each other as farmers pack up. Both cut short what the farmers like to do best: acquaint customers with their wares. But now a new brick and mortar model encourages and does just that.
How One Farmers Market Became a Model for “Farm to Floor” Markets
One farmers market combines the best of the markets — open air, super and health food – in an indoor “farm to floor” model. It evolved out of Henry Bode’s own farmers markets. Opening this spring, Henry’s Farmers Market, (
The reviews are in: Henry’s Market has been named the "Best Health Food Store" by readers of the San Diego Union-Tribune and the "
Like an open air markets, the store prides itself on its relationships with customers, and has earned a reputation for exceptionally fresh, practically priced produce. On my first visit to check out the place, I filled a shopping basket with lush fresh, unbelievably low priced herbs and produce before I knew it. Right by my side was a staff member ready to answer questions.
And, like outdoor venues, “local,”” sustainable” and “seasonal” are key words. A full-time produce director in the small company solicits from local farmers and vendors.
One difference is the produce Henry’s carries from
“True, dealing with local farmers can mean higher prices without agro-industry volume, and small farmers are at the whim of nature,” notes Little. “But if you eat with the seasons, you’ll see that even organic produce is equal to or less expensive than “conventional” fruits and vegetables.
There are other reasons to eat with the seasons, says Janet. “Our bodies have developed and evolved with foods of the seasons. For example, squashes are rich in beta carotene and other nutrients that are helpful in cold weather. It’s surprising to realize that only in the last 50 years have we started to import foods from other regions. “
A 20-year veteran of the health food industry with a degree in nutrition from
With Henry’s since 1996, Janet is on a mission to teach that “great taste and healthy meals are synonymous. “Now is a good time because of the economy,” she notes.” I come across so many more people looking to cook everyday dishes at home for the first time to save money.”
Henry’s encourages people to try new items, which when they purchase them leads to more variety on the floor. Grains are a striking example for Janet. “For years, people just had a choice between brown and white rice; now when I lecture most people even know about quinoa (newly introduced grain highest in protein).”
One customer favorite is Spring Strawberry season with the first crop on the horizon. Known for their strawberries, the Henry’s Strawberry Jam Festival” party celebrates the season on March 21.
Health-conscious Janet suggests strawberries as a great natural food to replace sugary snacks; it’s a perfect lighter food for the summer months when the liver is least active. It also answers sugar cravings, I mention. Janet laughs. “I call manufactured snacks ‘nutritionally bankrupt.’ It drives me crazy to think that people waste money and 100 calories on a snack that doesn’t supply the nutrients your body craves so you’re still hungry after you eat it! In fact, we offer a special healthy “Six week diet” at Henry’s Market. In the end you also actually save money.”
Along with leading store tours, Janet invites topics for store lectures and questions. (Contact her at 619-647-6179 or [email protected])
Henry’s also keeps customers in the know with Market Mailings that includes a farm fresh news section called, “what’s cropping up?” And finally, Henry’s has their own in-house made sausage, meals to go, shopping baskets, a parking lot out front and — your choice of paper and recycled cloth bags.
Behind the Scenes
Market Manager Laura Avery’s enthusiastic voice is remarkably distinctive when you hear her call out at the Wednesday morning
More than that, Laura is the voice of the Santa Monica Farmer Market. Former
The opening day list of 23 farmers has grown to a steady 75 as the market has quadrupled in size, which is not surprising to Laura because of “the very positive opening season. It had already doubled in size both the first, and the second year when I joined it. Funny,” muses the lean, tan, blonde dynamo, “ it doesn’t’ seem long because it’s been so much fun. And also ‘funny’ because the only other managers around as long as I started at the same time: Pasadena Farmers Market manager, Gretchen
In a down economy, the farmers markets make for a very happy story. The city charges 4-1/2% of what a farmer earns at his or her stall, and this progressive fee structure has allowed the market to be completely self-supporting. Laura tells us, “only four markets in
The staff of five office market managers and three field assistants see to it that the market abides by the strict laws regulating all 105 markets in
“We have an idea but we have to sure,” says Avery wryly. “Some of the people buy wholesale instead of growing it themselves so we are vigilant and we do quite a few farm inspections.”
“We ‘city folks supposedly don’t know if something grew on trees,” she chides. “But when someone writes on their certificate that they grow a quarter-acre of carrots and arrives at the market with 200 pounds of clean carrots with the tops neatly lopped off… well, we know.” She paused, “it gets tricky. At one time stickered produce that was washed and waxed meant wholesale. But now some of the farmers who own packing houses prepare fruit like that. ”
How is she doing? Discriminating expert Evan Kleiman refers to Laura at work as “Columbo.”
“Competition to be first is keen because price is not a problem,” she adds. And makes for drama, she implies. “You have to be first and you have to get in that extra week of sales in order to make a profit because it is such a short season. And the fruits and vegetables have to be at just the right moment of ripeness to ensure this. The worst thing is when a farmer comes in too soon.” Customers remember the rest of the season and won’t buy.
For Laura, “Heading into spring means making more and more phone calls to the farmers. Right now they’re saying that the trees are in full bloom and the fruit season should be great. That will hold — if there’s no hail, no wind to blow the blossoms off the trees, no other problems. We live and die with those farmers and check in on them all the time.”
Worse than the continual huge gamble to get the first fruit to market is when weather destroys an entire crop, which happened in the 2007 freeze. In response that year, 27
What happens to unsold produce? Harry’s Berries never sells “next day” produce; they make preserves. Lots of the farmers take advance food orders on Mondays and Tuesdays from chefs — and make calls to chefs when there’s plenty on the table at the end of the day. “Farmers feed it to their animals or compost it,” Laura says and rationalizes quietly, “so you can say it’s recycled in its own way. One of the farmers told me he has the best fed pigs in the state.”
Shopping Tips
Buying Organic: Laura Avery, like all managers, organizes the farmers to their maximum advantage. Organic stalls are marked with clearly visible “Certified Organics” pennants and sign above their stalls are clearly visible
Limits! My cousin, Jeff Green says its because it’s just too beautiful to leave behind, I simply midjudge and even food maven Evan Kleiman admits, “I still shop for two weeks every week and wind up with fridge full of extra food. I made soup for my neighbors out of an extra five pounds of carrots when I couldn’t think of anything else, and at one time was so wary I only bought flowers
Laura on overbuying: “There should be a shopper support group! I don’t want entire sections of my fridge to be loaded with forgotten farmers’ market produce and from now on I’m going to go with a recipe in mind and just get the ingredients for it. Right now my only rationale for not using farmer produce in time is that we all have compost these days and it’s just going to go into more top soil. I always remember that when I shop I’m not just buying food for myself, I’m supporting a farmer.
Laura on Sampling: Walk around the whole area at least once to every farmer. Every farmer is there to make a great impression with samplings and chances are that if you taste a fruit and learn about it first hand, you’ll use it at home. Remember that things change from week to week, even with the same fruit or vegetable so you can get the super good variety of the week.
Farmers understand that customers aren’t only looking for a bargain price, they’re looking for flavor and quality, so they’re out to make a taste memory. They want their customers to be excited to see them the next time. That customer is you
Resources
Location: A complete list of Farmers Markets from
EXTRA:
Northridge: Northridge Fashion Center, Tampa Avenue south of Plummer Street, April through Oct. 24, 5 to 9 p.m. (805) 643-6458.
Ojai:
Thousand Oaks: McCloud Avenue and Hillcrest Drive, 403 W. Hillcrest Drive, on the rooftop of Conejo Recreation & Park District building, 2 to 6:30 p.m. www.vccfarmersmarkets.com (805) 529-6266.
Calabasas (
Encino:
Pacific
Santa Monica: Wednesday 3rd Street and
Coming to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market will be the “The Farmer’s Kitchen,” a 1,500 square foot community teaching and retail kitchen providing job training in food preparation. It will deliver farm fresh food to the community through innovative programs and a retail café.
The City of
Panels for 2009: August 29 – Farming for the Next Generation – Who Will the New Farmers Be?
November 5 – TBA
MLK Jr. Auditorium
310-458-8600
www.smpl.org